A kiss isn't just a kiss
by RGoodfellow64
Summary: Spoiler for 5x22. Based on the 'what the heck' moment in the promo. Esposito catches Beckett and Vaughn


A kiss isn't just a kiss

by RGoodfellow64

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Disclaimer: Not mine and I wouldn't have allowed this episode if it was.

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**SPOILER ALERT**: If you don't do spoilers (like me) and don't watch the promo's (unlike me) then don't go any further.

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Kate couldn't understand what was happening, but she was drawn to Eric Vaughn as she hadn't felt drawn in a while. He was magnetic. He was handsome. He was charming and suave and most of all he was definitely interested in her. His actions and words made that glaringly obvious.

Moreover, she felt drawn to him. His confidence, his self-assuredness and his unflappable belief in himself were powerfully alluring; and although she was in a relationship with Castle, even though she never considered herself a cheater, she wondered what it would be like to be with Vaughn. To hold him. To be held by him. To kiss him.

He was speaking and she tried to understand what he was saying, but her heart was beating so loudly that it drowned out his words. She had to concentrate, to remind herself that he was her responsibility. She was there to protect him, not to fantasize over him.

She continued to stare at him while mentally shaking her head to clear it. He was so handsome and his words were so gentle, they almost felt like a caress. His eyes on her were soft and full of emotion. She couldn't look away.

Slowly his words drowned out the beating of her heart and she heard him say, "This is fate, facing a woman like you," and then he leaned towards her, his mouth unerringly aimed for hers, and she wanted to kiss him. She wanted to feel his lips on hers and she leaned towards him, closing her eyes.

Then he kissed her. Tender. Softly. His lips like a butterfly's wings, dancing over hers, yet also strong and possessive. Secure in the knowledge that they were meant to be.

As his lips were moving over hers, she thought she heard footsteps and before she could make a cohesive thought she heard, "Yo! Beckett! I think I found…"

The words ended abruptly and Kate quickly pulled away from Eric to turn to Esposito. She was shocked at the look on his face and watched as his expressions turned from surprise to sadness to anger and finally to disgust.

Shaking herself from Eric's arms, she cleared her throat and said, "What? What did you find?"

Instead of answering, he shook his head and backed away, "Never mind Beckett. I can see you're busy protecting Mr. Vaughn here, I'll just go find Ryan."

His words were biting. Cold. Clipped and spoken in a manner he'd never spoken to her before.

She didn't have a chance to say a word before he turned and walked out of the room. She followed him and saw him practically running down the hall.

"Esposito!" she called out, but he didn't stop.

"Esposito!" She ran after him.

Hearing her running after him, Esposito stopped and turned to watch her. Seeing him stop, she slowed to a walk and finally came up to him. His face showed he was angry with her. She hoped to avoid any conflict and started to ask him what he found when he interrupted and sarcastically said, "Sorry I disturbed you in there, Beckett."

Taken aback by this she could only ask, "What?"

He looked over her shoulder to see Vaughn standing outside the door looking at them. He nodded his head in that direction and said, "Should he be left alone now? Shouldn't you go back and _protect_ him some more?"

Unhappy with his attitude she angrily asked, "What's your problem, Esposito?"

"What's my problem?" he said, angrily. "What's _my_ problem? You're the one with a problem Beckett."

He aggressively moved into her space while he spoke and she had to back away as she looked at him in confusion. "I have a problem?" she asked.

He lowered his voice and practically hissed at her, "Castle is in the building, Beckett. Did it ever occur to you that he could have walked in to see you kissing Vaughn?"

She shook her head, "I wasn't…"

He cut her off and said, "I saw you Kate. You were kissing Vaughn. You weren't pulling away and you didn't push him away. He didn't do anything to you that you didn't want and I'm sorry that I had to see it!"

"Esposito…"

"How do you think Castle would feel if he was the one who came here? You remember Castle, don't you? Supposed to be your boyfriend. Did you even think of him at all?"

"He is my boyfriend!"

"Really? Sure didn't look like it to me!"

"It's not what it looked like."

"Oh? To me when two people have their lips locked together, it looks like a kiss."

Kate shook her head, "It was but…"

"Oh! Now it was a kiss! Before it wasn't."

"Esposito!"

"You know Kate, you and Kev, you're my partners. I know I can trust you to have my back. We were good for a long time, just the three of us, and then Castle showed up. After all we've been through, I consider him my partner too. This would crush him Kate."

"What?"

"We've all watched the dance you two put on for three years. He left when you were wasting time with Demming, but he stuck around when you stayed with Josh, even though you stayed with Josh longer than he deserved. Castle's been there for you, and when the two of you finally got your act together, when you finally realized that you belong with each other, Kev and I were really happy for you."

He paused a moment and said, "Castle's good for you Kate. He always was but you didn't want to see it."

Unable to follow what he was saying, Kate asked, "What does Castle have to do with this?"

"How do you think he's going to feel Kate? I saw how jealous you were when he kissed that insurance agent last year, and you see how jealous he is of you guarding Vaughn. How do you think Castle'd feel if he saw the _way_ you were guarding Vaughn?"

"Esposito, I…"

He shook his head and sadly said, "Kate, either you're with Castle or you're with Vaughn. Don't be a cheater."

Kate opened her mouth in shock, "A what? A cheater? You think I'm a cheater?"

"Kate, anyone who saw what I just saw would think that. You gotta make a decision. You gotta make a choice."

"A choice? But I'm not…" she paused as she thought a moment about her relationship with Castle. Esposito watched her closely and saw various emotions go across her face. Seeing them, he sighed. He had no idea things were so bad.

"Just remember Kate that now…now that you and Castle are together, if you choose Vaughn, Castle will go and he'll never come back."

He started to turn away and said, "You go back and check on Vaughn, I'll get in touch with Ryan," and he walked down the hallway to the door.

Kate turned around, looked back from where she'd come and saw Vaughn standing in the doorway with a concerned look on his face. When he saw her looking at him, he smiled.

As she slowly made her way back, she knew she had a lot to think about. An awful lot to think about.

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**AUTHORS NOTE: Ok, this is definitely not the way I see that kiss happening. This is not how I see Beckett at all, BUT, this is the way the promo was edited. It was made to make us think that Beckett is going to dump Castle for Vaughn, or at least wants to check if the grass is greener with another guy. It was designed to create a sense of impending doom for our favorite couple. We're near the end of the season and there is always an arc of trouble in the last episodes. This year is no different. Just once, I'd like to see something really upbeat for a season ending arc. Ah well, I'm just a hack writer, what do I know?**


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